Thanks so much for all your kind remarks----I'm happy you enjoy my pictures. Hi Annie------I think the orange rose is Autumn Sunset----It was a cutting and I didn't label it but pretty sure tht it is AS-- Hi Joytwo------Here is the story about PHM---It was growing up a tree that had to be taken down because we were adding a new room. After my son dug it up he asked me where I wanted to put it----I didn't have a place in mind so I told him to just stick it in the tree line and we could move it at a later date----it was totally neglected----no water --no food --in fact we forgot about it---Then lo and behold in the spring of 1996 we had this glorious blooming and it has comtinued to delight us every year---DH did cut it back a little last year so we will see how it survived the haircut. It has supported itself with what ever trees it could hang on to and then we put some cheap arbors under it so we were able to walk under it It has been a delight every year but I can't take any credit for it-----It must just love that spot---I really didn't think it was going to live when we moved it. Thanks for asking----I love PHM---- Florence

I grow PHM on the North wall, so he should not have an issue with it. The caution though, PHM is a big rose. And by that, I mean it, as I am going to try and sort out a mess of its 6 meter long canes and 3 meter long laterals (he is still 3 year old baby btw). x) You also need a moisture for its scent, so if you climate is very dry, he probably won't have any smell - but in the moist air, it drifts across the garden with ease. Gertrude Jekyll I don't know about, Gloire de Dijon might not look that nice color wise, as PHM is pink and GdD is orangey-peach (shade tolerant though). Also it is a bit leggy and aparently has issues when grown own root, not grafted. The scent of GdD is very lovely though. If you like musk scent, why not to try one of the other hybrid musks in the middle? Most of them rebloom.

Oh boy, nckvilledudes, you've got that right...this is another one I've quit growing because of the seedlings. I had it planted next to Rosea glauca. It made a beautiful composition with iris crestata at their feet. But, every year come late spring I'd have hundreds of seedlings from both the baptisia & the rose (even out into the turfgrass area) that I order their execution! I had to or I'd be living in a two-plant ecosystem. I miss them both; they were lovely. Part of the problem was I let the rose develop hips because that's such a big part of the plant's beauty & likewise with the seed pods of the baptisia, the seed pods carry the show long after the flowers are gone. I wonder if Preen would have stopped the ridiculous seed germination (worse than maple trees)? I don't like to use stuff like Preen but miss these two plants. Tricia

Thanks, Sandy. I hope it will be fun raising them. The first one just hatched last evening and wow, are they ever super tiny! I really could barely see it. The other cats I raise look gigantic compared to these. lol I looked awhile ago and couldn't see it, so I guess it's on the leaves somewhere. I just hate to be fussing with that too much or I might accidentally squoosh it. I have the eggs in a small container and have them laying on top of some wild lupine leaves that I cut from my plants. I thought that way when they hatch out, it will be better that they're on a leaf than on the bottom on the paper towel. I have the florist tube laying on its side on the bottom of the container, so I hope that's alright. What I'm wondering right now is do these tiny cats roll leaves yet? I can't picture them having the strength/ability, so maybe they just crawl around on the leaves for awhile? Okay, since they overwinter as cats and I'll have them on our unheated, screened back porch, how long will I have to keep cuttings for them? When we get a frost, everything will be kaput, so I'm wondering if I should bring any in right before we get a frost (cut some off the plants, I mean). I won't be able to keep water in the tubes all winter because they'll freeze and crack. In nature, nobody is bringing them fresh cuttings, so I'd guess that they won't need any after we have a frost...unless because of them being on our porch they won't know that it's time for them to settle down for a long nap. I'd imagine that the leaves will all dry up and crumble and perhaps not even hold together enough to hold them inside (I'm guessing), so I hope that the cats will be okay through the winter. Can I assume that they won't wake up until their food in my garden will be available next year (not until sometime in May, I think or maybe late April. Sorry, but I didn't even bother to take a pic of that teeny tiny cat because I know the camera would just take a really blurry pic that close. Cathy